New Study: Now 1 in 6 American Adults Takes Anti-Depressants or Other Psych Drugs

The number used to be one in ten, but according to new data, one out of every six adult Americans is taking anti-depressants or some other type of psychiatric drugs now.

What that breaks down to is “Overall, 16.7 percent of 242 million U.S. adults reported filling one or more prescriptions for psychiatric drugs in 2013,” according to research published today in Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Internal Medicine.

The majority of psych drugs taken were anti-depressants, with 12%; another 8.3% take anti-anxiety medications, sleeping pills or sedatives, while 1.6% straight up takes antipsychotics.

What’s more? The majority who take these drugs, or eight out of ten, take them long-term — 84.3% having refilled at least three prescriptions in 2013.

Wow. That means nearly 17% of American adults are on mind-altering prescription medications and most of them will be forever.

In 2011, it was also reported that Americans consume 80% of the world’s pain medication.

So are we the most hurt, depressed group of people on the planet or what?

The real question that needs to be asked is why are Americans so damn depressed?